The Scot took over at Old Trafford on 6 November 1986 after leaving his post at Aberdeen.

The manager has enjoyed a stunning spell of success in his time at the United helm – winning 12 Premier League championships, five FA Cups, two Champions League trophies, four League Cups, 10 Community Shields, one Cup Winners’ Cup, one Uefa Super Cup and one Intercontinental Cup.

During his remarkable tenure at Old Trafford, Ferguson has been awarded both a CBE (in 1995) and a knighthood (in 1999) for services to football.

Ferguson has also hit the headlines for famous feuds with referees, as the fiery Scot has racked up a total of £75,000 in fines for comments made towards officials, and has been banned for a total of 15 games for the same offence.

As well as referees, Ferguson was involved in a long-running stand-off with the BBC, where he refused to speak publicly to anyone involved with the corporation.

His anger came from a television documentary, screened in 2004, which claimed his son (Jason Ferguson, a football agent) exploited his relationship with him to his own ends in the transfer market.

Although Ferguson Jr was cleared of any wrongdoing, the United boss boycotted the BBC for seven years – until FA rules introduced in the 2010-2011 season forced him to speak to the BBC.

On the day of his historic achievement, players and fans flooded Twitter and United messageboards to pay tribute to Sir Alex.

Rio Ferdinand, for one, tweeted: “The boss has been at Man Utd #26Years today. Colossal.”

And cricketer Michael Vaughan echoed Ferdinand’s sentiments, tweeting: “26 years ago today Sir Alex Ferguson arrived at Manchester United… Has to be the greatest ever manager… #Legend”

During Ferguson’s trophy-laden years at the helm, Inter Milan and Real Madrid have had 25 managers, Manchester City have had 18, Chelsea have had 17 and AC Milan have had 15.

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Those Irish racehorse owners have long memories I wouldn't be surprised if they came back to haunt him